To provide additional funding for scholarships for students at 1890 institutions, and for other purposes.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 12, 2025
This bill provides specified funds to the 1890 Scholarships Program for FY2025 and each succeeding year for student scholarships. This National Institute of Food and Agriculture program provides grants to 1890 Institutions (i.e., historically Black colleges and universities that belong to the U.S. land-grant university system) for students who intend to pursue a career in the food and agricultural sciences.
The bill also permanently reauthorizes the 1890 Scholarships Program.
Further, the bill specifies that student scholarships include scholarships for programs leading to a bachelor or graduate degree.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Apr 7, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Read the proposal in plain language
AI-generated · Source-checked by AI · Oct 30, 2026
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-12 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
What it would do
This bill proposes changes to scholarships for students at institutions covered by the existing “1890 institutions” program. It would explicitly include programs leading to bachelor’s or graduate degrees and require $15 million annually in additional funding starting in fiscal year 2025. It would also replace fixed end dates with ongoing funding language, with some provisions dependent on funding availability.
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1. Additional funding for scholarships for students at 1890 institutions
is amended by striking scholarships to individuals and inserting scholarships (including for programs leading to a bachelor or graduate degree) to individuals.
Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall make available to carry out this section $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal year thereafter, to remain available until expended.
is amended by striking each of the 4 succeeding academic years and inserting each academic year thereafter for which funding is available under subsection (b)(1).
Section 1(a) would expressly include scholarships for programs leading to a bachelor’s or graduate degree in the existing scholarship provision. The amendment does not reproduce the program’s other eligibility rules.
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(a) Scholarships for bachelor or graduate programs Section 1446(a)(1) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3222a(a)(1)) is amended by striking scholarships to individuals and inserting scholarships (including for programs leading to a bachelor or graduate degree) to individuals.
Section 1(b) would require the Secretary to make $15 million from Commodity Credit Corporation funds available for the scholarship program in fiscal year 2025 and every fiscal year afterward. This is a mandatory funding direction. Each year’s funds would remain available until spent, and the new provision specifies no final funding year.
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(C) Fiscal year 2025 and fiscal years thereafter Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall make available to carry out this section $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal year thereafter, to remain available until expended.
Section 1(c), labeled “Discretionary funding,” would replace the existing reference to fiscal years 2020 through 2023 with fiscal year 2020 and every fiscal year afterward. The supplied amendment changes the covered years; it does not state the funding amount or reproduce the rest of that provision.
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(c) Discretionary funding Section 1446(b)(2) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3222a(b)(2)) is amended by striking each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023 and inserting fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter.
Section 1(d) would replace a reference to four succeeding academic years with each academic year afterward for which funding is available under subsection (b)(1). Continued application would therefore depend on that funding being available. The existing provision containing this timing rule is not reproduced.
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(d) Conforming amendments Section 1446(a)(3) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3222a(a)(3)) is amended by striking each of the 4 succeeding academic years and inserting each academic year thereafter for which funding is available under subsection (b)(1).
The supplied actions snapshot, updated April 7, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Agriculture on February 12, 2025, followed by referral to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology on March 28, 2025. This snapshot does not establish the bill’s subsequent status.
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Source snapshot updated 2025-04-07T12:45:17Z.
2025-03-28: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.
2025-02-12: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
2025-02-12: Introduced in House
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-12. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or separate policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No recipient-specific or place-specific spending earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Program funding alone does not establish an earmark. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark status cannot be established without accompanying evidence.
Other targeted benefits
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No separate narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential exception was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Coverage of the scholarship program’s intended beneficiaries alone does not warrant a finding. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
What this analysis cannot establish
The supplied full text is the introduced House version dated February 12, 2025. Its provisions are proposals; the supplied evidence does not establish enactment. The actions snapshot ends April 7, 2025, and cannot establish whether the bill advanced or became law afterward.
The existing statutory provisions being amended are not reproduced in full. The bundle therefore does not establish the complete definition of eligible 1890 institutions, student eligibility, award allocation, discretionary funding amount, administrative or enforcement rules, or the full operation of the academic-year provision.
The text specifies fiscal year 2025 as the start of the new mandatory funding but supplies no separate general effective-date provision.
Member spending requests, earmark disclosures, committee reports, conference materials, and amendment attachment history are not supplied. Formal earmark status and provisions in other versions cannot be established from this bundle.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Apr 7, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI